As previously reported, Geoff Tate’s Operation Mindcrime will be releasing, The New Reality, the third and final chapter in the musical trilogy, on December 1st.

The band has released a lyric video for the song, Under Control, listen to it below.

They previously released audio of the track, Wake Me Up.

Operation: Mindcrime is a creative platform that continues in the spirit of the historic album of the same name, spawning concepts as grand as the music, and intertwining the intensity of the former Queensrÿche vocalist’s iconic past with the provocative, progressive mindset that has made him one of music’s most resolute forces and frontmen. Joined by a cast of musicians, Kelly Gray, John Moyer, Simon Wright, Scott Mercado, Scott Moughton, Brian Tichy, & Mike Ferguson, whose talent and resumes speak volumes for the quality of musicianship that will be on display here, The New Reality is a another fine progressive rock/metal entry from Tate.

The New Reality track listing:

1. A Head Long Jump
2. Wake Me Up
3. It Was Always You
4. The Fear
5. Under Control
6. The New Reality
7. My Eyes
8. A Guitar In Church?
9. All For What?
10. The Wave
11. Tidal Change
12. The Same Old Story

Guitarist Brian Carroll, aka Buckethead, has given a interview where he has revealed he has a heart condition.

He was told by doctors that he was on the verge of having a stroke and reports that even simple tasks such as walking across a room is now difficult for him.

Asked on the Coming Alive podcast, what the hardest thing he’s ever gone through, Buckethead said, “I have a heart problem where my heart beats out of rhythm. It’s been doing it for a long time, but recently it kicked up and became really intense. I didn’t know what was going on – I just tried to deal with it and let it do what it did. But it got really intense, so I went to the doctor and they said, ‘You’re on the verge of having a stroke.’ They suggested I had an ablation, where they go in and freeze your heart. It’s supposed to do something with the nerves, because they said my heart was fine and it could be a genetic thing-they didn’t really know. I had that procedure and it didn’t really stop it and I’m still dealing with it.”

The guitarist said he taking medication for the condition, and adds, “It’s been really difficult because it’s scary. Even walking across a room is difficult. Luckily the medication I’m thankful for, because it’s kept it from going berserk, but it’s still pretty intense. I’m letting this thing sort of exist in me and I can’t really escape it. I’m always aware of my heart beat or the intensity of my heart beat. It definitely scares me, but it’s also doing a lot of good because now I better do all the things I want to do – and I’ve been doing a lot of stuff. I feel an urgency now.”

He added, “I could be gone tomorrow. Anybody could be gone, but that’s a heavy experience. I want to play right now, and I want to play that experience.”

Buckethead has released more than 300 albums and has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Bootsy Collins, Iggy Pop, Mike Patton and was a member of Guns N’ Roses between 2000-2004.

As previously reported, Black Country Communion, the band featuring vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes, drummer Jason Bonham, Derek Sherinian and blues-rock guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa, will be releasing their new album, BCCIV, on September 22nd.

The band has now released a video for the first single, Collide, watch it below.

To read more about BCCIV, and to pre-order the release, please click here.

BCCIV track listing:

1. Collide
2. Over My Head
3. The Last Song For My Resting Place
4. Sway
5. The Cove
6. The Crow
7. Wanderlust
8. Love Remains
9. Awake
10. When The Morning Comes
11. With You I Go (bonus track on vinyl edition only)

As the revival of the classic ’80s hard rock and heavy metal scene continues unabated here in the 21st century, one reunion has been at the top of the wishlists of many a fan for a long time: the songwriting combination of Tracii Guns and Philip Lewis under the L.A. Guns banner. What once seemed like a distant memory with no hope of returning has now come around and fans are about to be rewarded for keeping their fingers crossed and their hopes up.

Today, the first video for the album’s debut single, Speed,has been released. Watch the video below.

Guns describes the song as “a response to the extremely fast-paced ‘I want it now!’ world we are living in.” Hard rock aficionados should keep their ears opened for a nod to the great Deep Purple’s legendary track Highway Star in one of the verses.

L.A. Guns’ new album, The Missing Peace, on October 13th through Frontiers Music Srl.

The Missing Peace track listing:

1. It’s All The Same To Me
2. Speed
3. A Drop Of Bleach
4. Sticky Fingers
5. Christine
6. Baby Gotta Fever
7. Kill It Or Die
8. Don’t Bring A Knife To A Gunfight
9. The Flood’s The Fault Of The Rain
10. The Devil Made Me Do It
11. The Missing Peace
12. Gave It All Away

“The Missing Peace‘ is truly an album by definition,” said Guns. “It’s a collection of music that I have been working on for about twelve years with various styles of rock music. From blues to classical influences, these are all hard-hitting songs. I am very proud of all of the contributions to this album by other members and writers. L.A. Guns fans are in for a treat.”

A foreboding storm is gathering overhead. Bells toll, lighting cracks, rain falls…something dark and sinister is heading this way. It’s 1970 and four guys from Birmingham, with the release of their debut self-titled album, have single-handedly created what would become known forever as heavy metal. It was a singular moment of crushing heaviness that would define the genre for years to come.

The sixties were over. Charles Manson and his knife wielding followers had put a violent end to peace and love and the optimism and hope of the decade had vanished. As the seventies came down like a dark cloud, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler welcomed these uncertain times with open arms and riffs of thunder. And so “The Ten Year War” began.

Fresh from receiving the “Golden God” icon award at this year’s Metal Hammer Golden Gods, Black Sabbath has announced The Ten Year War — a limited edition vinyl box set, released September 29th through BMG, that brings together their eight Ozzy-fronted albums, plus a swathe of other rarities, all housed within exclusive artwork created by renowned street artist, graphic designer and activist Shepard Fairey.

Despite Black Sabbath’s multi-million selling albums and rabid fan base throughout the seventies, this adulation wasn’t always mirrored by the music press at the time. The band received more than their fair share of criticism, prompting them to publish The Ten Year War brochure; a playful dig at journalists with the witty tagline “more good press than most — more bad press than any.” The brochure is reproduced in full for the box set and is one of the many exclusive items held within that also includes:

8 x vinyl LPs meticulously reproduced in their original sleeves, remastered by renowned mastering engineer Andy Pearce from the original tapes and pressed on 180 gram splatter-colored vinyl, each LP with unique and individual colouring.